Across the Oceans
by rantandrumour
Summary: After Castle disappeared the year previously, Kate's had to readjust to life without him. Where's Castle, and why did he disappear like he did?


**K, so I'm trying out a new category... please tell me what you think!**

Kate Beckett stared at the empty chair next to her. It had been so long since Castle had filled the spot. She still hadn't gotten rid of it, even though she knew he wasn't coming back. It had been over a year since the day that he had ceased to come in. That whole case, she should have known everything was going to go wrong. She always got a feel with how a case was going to go, and at the beginning of that one, she felt a sense of foreboding.

Everything had been normal, everything had been fine. And then, he just hadn't shown up. He had been found eventually.

Kate shook her head. She couldn't afford to think about that. She had to get back with the case on hand.

She stared at the board, remembering how Castle would relate everything to Derek Storm, to the plans he had had for Nikki Heat. Kate smiled softly. She had always hated to be related to Nikki, even though there was that small part of her brain that loved the attention. When her mother had been murdered, she had gone into the police force to make a difference .She had never expected to become an author's muse, much less Rick Castle's. Ever since she had picked up his first _Derek Storm _novel, she had been obsessed with his writing. As soon as she found there was a new novel coming out, she would preorder it, not caring about price. It was Richard Castle. She had often wondered what he would be like. Would he be what she imagined a writer to be? Broody, always thinking about his books, and introverted?

She had been delighted when they had to interview him. But then he had started following her around. And he had been nothing like what she expected. In the place of the suave, quiet, broody man she had envisioned, was a cocky little nine-year-old on a sugar rush. That first night she had met him, she had tried to go home and get rid of the books.

But she couldn't. There was something about him, even then, that had attracted her to him. Something in his boyishness that drew her in, that made her still want to talk to him. Even though she had argued with the captain about him following her, she had been secretly excited that he had wanted to shadow _her_ of all people.

She had never imagined then that their relationship would explode the way it did. They had been the perfect partnership, bouncing off each other easily, constantly riling each other up.

But then the case came. The case that had torn everything apart. That had changed the partnership. The case that had gotten rid of Castle.

Kate put her head in her hands, her long brunette hair falling forward over her shoulders. Finally, after denying the emotion for so long, she could admit it. She missed Richard Castle. But he was never coming back.

~(*)~

Richard Castle stared at what the locals had lovingly dubbed 'The Testicle,' the building in which the Mayor of London's office sat. He was on his way to a meeting with his new publisher. Ever since he had moved to London, he had done everything he could to leave the United States in his past. He even had a pseudonym. Alexander Enright. Alexis had come up with his last name. She had read it in a book and thought it sounded good with his name.

Rick smirked. Alexander and Alexis. What a pair they would seem. But no, he was no longer going by his penname anymore. He was Richard Alexander Rodgers, and his daughter was Alexis Rodgers.

Alexis had been surprised when they left that they were changing their name back. But Rick knew that something had to change. He didn't want to be famous anymore. The final case with Beckett had destroyed all the niceties of being famous. Besides, it being announced that he was in London meant that it would be easier for her to find him. He couldn't have Beckett find him. He had to stay here.

The only reason he had started to write again is because he had to. He was a writer, that was what he did. Not being able to plan out a story, or research, or come up with a character drove him, as his British friends would say, mad.

Rick entered the restaurant and sat down across from a tall black haired man in a suit. The man looked up from his menu.

"Alexander Enright," the man's posh voice said dryly.

"James."

"Your manuscript was a week late."

"Last minute tweaking," Rick replied.

"I've heard that you spent that last week typing nearly twenty-four seven. Surely you weren't just _tweaking?_"

"Could you _please_ stop talking to my mother? I feel like a bad kid!"

His agent sighed. "Alexander, you _are _a kid."

"Better to have fun than to be bored."

In spite of himself, James smiled. "I couldn't agree more."

Rick grinned. "So. My manuscript. It's flawless, right?"

"If only that were the case," James said, laying a large pile of papers on the table. "It's very good, Alexander, just tweaks her and there. Your deadline is the end of the month."

Rick nodded, picking up the manuscript and tucking it into his laptop bag.

"You know what's odd, Alexander?"

Rick looked at James. "What's that?"

"The voice of your writing… It almost sounds like Richard Castle."

Rick laughed, masking the worry that had just erupted. "Yeah sure."

"No really. And you look a bit like him too. I mean obviously, your hair is different…"

Rick ran a hand through his hair nervously. He had dyed it a darker brunette and had a goatee now. He knew that was in no way a good disguise, but it should stop people from looking twice.

"Right James. Now you're just taking the piss," he said, the traditional British phrase sounding odd on his lips. He started walking away.

"End of the month, Enright!"

Rick continued walking away, his mind racing. He couldn't afford someone to recognize him. For him to be recognized meant that everyone he knew would be in danger. And that's why he had left in the first place.

He had left to save Kate's life. He missed her terribly, but he couldn't afford to risk it. He wasn't going to make contact with her. He would keep her safe.

**continue? or leave it?**


End file.
